Stand and Deliver
by justatragicgirl3
Summary: Takes place after Luke and Lorelai's wedding. After seeing how happy her mother is, Rory evaluates her own love life. Will this evaluation lead her to a past love?


Summary: This will be a 3-parter. It takes place after Luke's and Lorelai's wedding. Everything else is explained along the way. Thanks for reading!

**Disclaimer: I own nada!**

"So, you happy?" Rory asked her mother as they sat on their couch with the ancient bowl of nuts sitting on the coffee table. Lorelai glowed, as her smile grew wide with delight.

"Yes, I'm very happy, I'm happy about every aspect of my life," for the first time, Lorelai actually meant it.

"So you're happy that Kirk is passed out on our kitchen table?" Rory laughed.

"Well not _every_ aspect." The two girls giggled about the insanity.

"What can we say? That was a pretty wild wedding!" Rory commented.

"Yes that it was. I thought Luke was going to fall on the ground and die when Patty and Babette got on the table and started to sing the same verse of 'I'm too sexy' over and over again."

"I wouldn't blame him if he did," Rory laughed even harder, "So when are you leaving for the honeymoon?" Lorelai glanced down at her watch.

"In about an hour," Lorelai paused and stared at her daughter as her eyes glazed over in thought, "You and Jess seemed to be having fun last night!"

"Yeah, we were just talking about whatever," Rory said shyly with an innocent smile.

"He really has grown up a lot. I was talking to him last night, and he actually managed to use words with three, count them one two _three_, syllables!" Rory smiled, she remembered trying so hard to get her to see that side of him. "He really got his life together," Lorelai said again.

"Yeah, he did. His book is amazing, and he's starting a second one!" Rory went on excitedly, "His place that he opened is doing really good business, and his book is one of the top sellers, it's just amazing!" The proud smile on Rory's face was enough to make even Luke feel warm and fuzzy, "Plus he finally is letting everyone else see the great side of him that I always saw. I always knew he could do it, and he did. I'm so happy for him." Rory looked at her mom with wide, excited eyes and a beaming smile.

"That is great," Lorelai said quietly, "so Logan is coming down before your graduation?" The mention of Logan made Rory shift a bit after going on so much about her ex-boyfriend.

"Yep," she stated as-a-matter-of-factly. She forced an excited smile on her face, but it didn't seem to match the smile she had while talking about Jess.

"Does he know that you've been dating around?" Lorelai asked worriedly.

"Oh yeah, he has been too. We made an agreement: We date around and when he comes back we'll decide what to do from there."

"You've only dated one guy though, right?" Her mother asked invasively.

"Yeah, Marty a few times."

"Ah yes, Naked Guy!" Her smile grew mischievous.

"Mom!" Rory giggled, "That happened almost four years ago!" They giggled happily some more, "Yeah it didn't really work with him. We agreed that we're much better as friends."

"So what do you think you're going to do when Logan gets back?" Lorelai was hoping for a certain answer.

"I think it will depend on what he wants, and what he's been doing in England," Rory emotionlessly answered.

"Well what do _you_ want?" Lorelai was always trying so hard to make Rory admit what she really wanted, but she didn't ever seem to be getting anywhere.

"I think we'll probably start seeing each other again, just go back to how things were before he left." Rory basically just wanted the easy way out and she knew it. She didn't want to have to deal with a break-up; she didn't want to have to worry about finding a date to whatever end-of-the-year parties that would be going on, and she didn't want to go through the drama of convincing herself and everyone around her that she was alright. Lorelai, being her mother, knew this couldn't be what her daughter really wanted. Rory hadn't mentioned Logan voluntarily more than five times since he'd left. How devoted to him had she really been?

"Rory, what are you doing?" Lorelai asked harshly.

"What are you talking about?" A shocked Rory asked, with a gaping mouth.

"You don't really want to be with Logan!"

"Yes I do!" Rory replied, defensively.

"Rory he's not the guy for you!" She finally spat out. After two years she was finally able to tell her the truth.

"Oh really? And how do you know this?" Rory asked snottily, but she knew she was right. Lorelai wasn't always right when it came to things like this, but this time she was. She knew her daughter more than anyone, and she knew when she wasn't happy.

"Talking about him doesn't make you smile like an idiot, he doesn't make you want to defend him to the death, you don't believe in him no matter what, your eyes don't light up when you see him, and your eyes don't glaze over when you're thinking about him. You don't talk to him all night about nothing in particular and still have a great time. He doesn't convince you to go to Yale when no one else can. He's not-" She paused. Rory was almost in tears from hearing all of this. It was all true, every bit of it. She didn't want to face it, like she never did. She waited for her other to continue, but got impatient,

"He's not _what_ mom, just say it!" Lorelai sighed heavily and threw her hand in the air,

"He's not Jess!" She half-yelled. Rory looked away from her mom and let the tears spill over he lids. "Rory, come on you can't deny it. You've never gotten over him. He's always been the guy for you, even when I didn't want to admit it. Now that he's grown and has done so much with himself, you guys are finally on the same page. You can't let Logan get in-between you two, you'll never forgive yourself if you do." Rory still couldn't look at her mom. She knew that once again, she was right. And once again, she couldn't face that. Her and Jess together? That would be life altering beyond an extent that she believed she could handle.

"It's too late," she said quietly, with a heavy base of melancholy lining the words.

"No! It's not!" Lorelai yelled excitedly, "He's at the Dragonfly as we speak!"

"I know he is, we're going to hang out today."

"That's the perfect time! Rory you can't let him go. You'll both be kicking yourself mentally for the next 50 years if you don't do something now." Rory's eyes grew large when she realized just how right her mom was. His brother was born, and his uncle was married. Who knew the next time he'd be coming down? He had no real reason to. Rory had an epiphany. Jess really was the one for her, not Logan! They heard Luke's truck honking outside.

"Well sweets, I have to go, and so do you. Go get your man!" Lorelai hugged her daughter close and Rory congratulated Lorelai quietly.

"Have fun!" Rory yelled out the door as Lorelai ran to the truck.

"You too!" Lorelai winked.

"Dirty!" They both said at the same time, laughing as they blew kisses to each other. Rory grabbed her keys and went to the door.

"Kirk, I'm leaving!" She yelled inside. A groan could be heard from the kitchen. He shut and locked the door and headed to the Dragonfly Inn. She finally knew what she had to do.

Rory's car drove itself to the inn as if it didn't need any direction at all. She was being pulled not by her own sense of awareness of the area, but something bigger. She was being pulled by fate. She only hoped that fate could carry her to Jess's heart. The radio that she randomly selected was playing "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. _Jess likes The Cure, _thought Rory.

"Won't you ever know that I'm in love with you?" 

The lyrics spoke to her. Did Jess know how she felt about him? She hoped so, but she had done nothing that would point him to that conclusion. The only way he'd be able to tell if she loved him was if he went off his intuition. _His intuition had always been dead on. _He knew that it was the right thing to move back, he knew it was the right thing to go to the dance marathon, he knew that they were supposed to be together, and he knew she knew it too. Had she always known that he was the one for her? Of course she had. She slammed her hand the steering wheel out of frustration.

The inn came into her view shortly and she saw his car, at least she thought it was his. It looked like a cleaned up version of the car he had bought so long ago. It was now painted an ultra-shiny black. She smiled and pulled into the parking lot next to it. This was right, this was real.

She entered the Dragonfly like madwoman in a rush for day after Thanksgiving sales.

"Michel, what room is Jess staying in?" She half-yelled.

"You mean the insipid hoodlum who's smirking face makes me wish I was never born?" He replied with thick accent and thick distaste.

"Yes, him! Michel just tell me where he is!" She then felt a tap on her back.

"Are you looking for me?"


End file.
